“I left the car in the garage as much as possible”, but now you have to refuel: like Mickael Grumen, many holidaymakers were queuing this Friday morning in front of service stations, still affected, on the eve of the holidays, by the shortages linked to the strike on the oil sites of TotalEnergies.
At the Boulevard Morizet station in Boulogne-Billancourt, west of Paris and at the gates of the A13 motorway which leads to Normandy, a line of vehicles stretched out in the dark night, engines off and warning lights on.
“I really waited until the last moment to fill up”
“I have left the car in the garage as much as possible in the last few days, I have been teleworking”, explains Mickael Grumen, 43, who is waiting to collect gasoline at 2,040 euros per liter. “I really waited for the last moment, to be in the red, to fill up because I plan to go on vacation to Deauville”.
Service stations are facing significant supply difficulties due to the strike movement initiated on September 27 in the refineries and depots of the oil group TotalEnergies, where employees are demanding a salary increase in the face of inflation and profits. giants garnered by society.
“The strike is extended until October 27”
If the strikers at the Donges refinery (Loire-Atlantique), the “Flandres” depot in Mardyck, near Dunkirk (North), and the La Mède biorefinery (Bouches-du-Rhône) decided on Wednesday to resume work after an agreement with management, two oil sites renewed the strike on Thursday.
In Gonfreville in Normandy, “the strike is renewed until October 27”, the day when TotalEnergies must announce its results for the third quarter, “unless the management contacts us before”, announced Ludovic Desplanches, elected CGT. The movement was also renewed at the fuel depot in Feyzin (Rhône).
“Pampered” highways
After a peak in shortages last week, shortages of gasoline and diesel reduced this week, while remaining unprecedented in recent history. According to Francis Pousse, national president Fuel Distributors and New Energies at Mobilians, about 17% of service stations still lacked fuel on Friday.
“It is improving significantly compared to the beginning of the week”, he argued on Classic Radio, estimating that a return to normal should take place within “five to seven days”. But the pressure on the government is strong, while schools close their doors Friday evening for two weeks of vacation.
“I know that the situation is still difficult for many of our compatriots”
“I know that the situation is still difficult for many of our compatriots, but the momentum is there,” said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Wednesday, “I want to once again call on the striking employees to return to work”.
The Vinci Autoroutes group wanted to reassure future vacationers by announcing on Wednesday that at least 90% of the service stations in its network were able to provide fuel.
“Continuity of service is ensured at 82% for unleaded petrol, and 88% for diesel, at the 97 service areas of the APRR and AREA motorways”, specify the subsidiaries of the Eiffage group.
“The motorway network is particularly well cared for”
Francis Pousse also wanted to be reassuring vis-à-vis holidaymakers, saying that “oil companies have a commitment to continuity of service with motorway companies, so they have an obligation to deliver fuel”.
“The motorway network is particularly well pampered for the supply of gasoline, he detailed. Which makes sense, it’s complicated to leave broken down cars on the highway.
In a hurry to speed up deliveries to the stations, the government once again requisitioned employees to work on the Feyzin site on Thursday, which should help the entire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
An agreement provides for a 5% increase
The CGT said it had proposed, on Wednesday, without success, a “protocol for the end of the conflict” to the management of the group, providing in particular for “local negotiations on the specific problems raised by the strikers”.
But TotalEnergies argued that there was no need to reopen negotiations, an agreement having been concluded on Friday with the two majority unions in the group, the CFE-CGC and the CFDT. A text that the CGT has not signed.
The agreement provides for a general increase of 5% in wages, accompanied by individual increases and an exceptional bonus of between 3,000 and 6,000 euros. The CGT demanded a 10% wage increase. A movement had also taken place within Esso-ExxonMobil, before being lifted last week after the conclusion of a wage agreement.